Dual power in Susa: Chronicle of a transitional period from Ur III via Šimaški to the Sukkalmaḫs

Abstract

This article brings together evidence from both documentary texts and royal inscriptions from Susa in order to develop a chronological and historical perspective on the transitional period between the loss of control of the Ur III empire and the institutionalization of the Sukkalmaḫ regime. A study of the archaeological and archival context of the administrative texts resulted in a new chronology for the beginning of the Sukkalmaḫat, the basic argument for which is the early dating of the rule of Atta-ḫušu. Newly discovered inscriptions and new interpretations of existing inscriptions serve not only to adjust this chronology, but also to pave the way for an innovative and coherent socio-economic history of the early Sukkalmaḫat.

Revolutionizing a World

“…Areas along modern Bahrain (Dilmun) and Oman (Magan), which had been of particular interest to Mesopotamia and Elam probably from the fourth millennium BCE, were important for copper resources, stones and access to trade to the east. Additionally, Elam controlled access to Central Asia and Afghanistan, which had much-sought-after tin and lapis lazuli resources that were vital to trade (Potts 1999;De Graef 2012).…”